Saturday, January 2, 2010

Lewes, De. Fires 3.6 Conditions With Ice And Slurred Speach

All photography by Janis Markopoulos"I don't need to talk to windsurf". Thats what i told my wife as I came in after my third sesh, and was surprised to hear myself slurring my words, cuz I didn't feel cold. Amazing really.

Air Temp: 28 degrees

Huge mule kick/table top attempt-click on the photo for the full screen view.Wind Chill 11 degrees

Sometimes the natural flow of a move takes you into a backloop. I didn't go up with the intention of going for one, but it was so windy, before I knew it, I was drifting back over my shoulderI lost it half way thru the rotation and bailed. So much fun! Great shot-click on the photo to see the full screen view. Full post coming tomorrow morning, cuz I'm sure not to sleep well tonight. Gonna take 48 hours to come back down after today's action.More on tap for tomorrow, Gale warning are up thru Monday. It just doesn't stop! Live2sail

*****************************UPDATE********************************So yeah, I couldn't sleep. woke up this time at 3.47am. The wind is just relentless out there. Sounds like it might blow the windows in. Temperature outside right now is 19 degrees. I should probably run outside and bring my sail in the house to thaw out or else I wont beable to rig it later this afternoon. stand by, brb......

Iwindsurf graph for Lewes, De. 1/2/10A shot of the parking lot when we pulled up. Sand blowing across the parking lot. hehehehe :)Sand blowing across the highway near my house. I've sailed in alot of storms this season, but i can't remember seeing this before. Reminded Janis and I of the blowing dirt off of the cane fields in Maui on the road to Kihei

It was crankin. Lewes is hands down epic in a NW gale. the waves set up perfectly relative to the the wind directionBiggest I've ever seen on the outside here. Easily overhead in the channel, bigger even at times. Man, I was busting out some the biggest jumps of my life

Ken and I once debated whether or not you could consider it an epic day when you bust up your gear. ...I say any time your in a position to throw down moves that result in busted gear.... the day was pretty epic. What do you think dear reader?

I hit the eject button. Not bad, huh Andyhahahaha so much funHad my fair share of wipe outs today-Zooming in on this shot, you can see I had already blown out the panel of my 4.0. I had continued to sail on it, even after I knew I'd punched a hole thru. lol bring it on!So I came in an rigged my 3.6First run out on the 3.6.one of the few controlled jumps all dayI'd like to say this my attempt at a shove it, but I'm not sure what I was doing here. What do you think Mike?

Just insane conditionsPerhaps the biggest mule kick I've tried. Man, you could of hit 30 foot jumps today, if you could keep the kit dialedproblem was I was mostly an out of control projectile out there......and I rarely hit the ramps with enough control to really get some altitude

just outta controland exploding on impactWhile on the water, the sail doesn't really freeze up cuz the water is constantaly flushing on the sailBut as soon as you come off the water, it freezes up. Pretty cool huh

So yeah, first session in 2010 in the books. Stoked for more. Extended forecast calling for, you guessed it, more wind.Live2sail

You tell him Puff! This was the first time, I ever had to step in and pull the plug on him. I was taking these photos wearing layers and gloves and even the tips of my fingers were BURNING. I knew it was extreme. Dry suit or not, when speech begins to slur, it's time to get off the water and into the warmth of the truck.

Janis, you are amazing to stand on the beach in the wind and take all the photos you do! Also, good job with pulling the plug...I don't know if you know my blog, but I am another all-weather windsurfing lunatic myself, and it takes a lot to get me off the water when I'm having fun. But when my neurologist wind bro said the lips probably meant our judgement was being impaired too, it seemed like an excellent reason to call it a day. Or at least take a break!

I love my husband and support his passion. I took a vow when I married him and I'm holding up my promise. I think all wives should support their husbands' love of windsurfing. It's healthy and it keep our men in very good shape. They could have much worse addictions.

Puff, George and I would like to reach out to sailors in New England and open our home in Delaware to share our DELMARVA venues with you and others north of us. We also plan to visit your venue and other venues, such as the Charlotte crew this year in 2010.

We believe since we are in the middle of the east coast, it's up to us to reach out and grow the windsurfing community and promote the stoke. Let's make 2010 a year of sailing together and getting to know each other on a personal level instead of a cyber level.

There's about a 50% chance I'll spend some days in the OBX in April. Meanwhile in June there's the "East Coast Windsurfing Festival", a combination of freestyle and racing, exact dates TBA but you should try and make that!

George, that is outrageous!!! You know, they got that 12 month club for that institution down south, but you take it to a new level!!! Air temp 28F and wind chill of 11F! Anyway, this post is a great addition to the sport.

Mystic Force Drysuit -Close outs!

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About Me

My wife Janis and I own DelMarVa Board Sport Adventures. We are a stand up paddle boarding and windsurfing adventure outfitter/retailer in Southern Delaware with a waterfront shop where you can try before you buy in TAX FREE Delaware.
I've been windsurfing for 20+ years, and my sailing goals for 2012 are to get out in even bigger waves than last year, pull the trigger on every reach, and generally become a more accomplished wave sailor by getting more radical and aggressive on the bigger waves!!
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